Violet G. Wolfe

Violet G. Wolfe, Beaver Dam, passed away peacefully on Thursday, April 11, 2024 at Clearview Nursing Home in Juneau, at the age of 102. 

She was Blessed to be able to live alone, in her own home up until the last few months.

There will be a private funeral service for the family and burial will be at Oakwood Cemetery in Beaver Dam.

Violet Geraldine was born on July 7, 1921 in Desoto, Wisconsin to Magnus and Mae (Arneson) Sheldon.  She was baptized and confirmed at Bad Axe Lutheran Church, in Purdy. Violet went to Viroqua High School. 

She grew up in Red Mound/rural Desoto and helped her parents on the family farm. She was a very hard worker. She learned to make homemade bread from scratch on the wood-fired stove with her mother, at a very young age. 

She met her future husband, Lloyd Wolfe, at a dance on the Moonlight Excursion River Boat on the Mississippi River. They later were married on December 29, 1944 in Gatesville, Texas, (Camp Hood) where he was stationed in the Army before going to WWII. When he returned home, they bought a farm in rural Desoto where they farmed the land, and raised their 2 sons, Jerry and Jimmy.

In 1959 they moved to Beaver Dam. She was employed in the dress department at JCPenney’s.  But being a homemaker was her favorite job of all.

Violet loved God and her family above all else. She was proud of her Norwegian heritage which probably played a big role in her quick wit, good advice, silly quotes, and strong intuitions. She considered herself a “stubborn Norwegian”, and loved a good strong cup of “Norwegian coffee”. Violet loved to bake, and mastered the craft of baking and beautifully decorating angel food cakes, homemade cream puffs, lefsa, rosettes, and sandbakkels, among many other things. Christmas was always the best tradition with grandma Violet; she always perfectly set the dining room table for the holidays and the aroma of her Oyster Stew was its own Christmas scent. 

Violet enjoyed the outdoors and the beautiful things that nature had to offer. She loved flowers, gardening and watching the birds.  She enjoyed spending time with Lloyd at their lakefront cottage in Eagle River, and spend countless hours fishing and enjoying the lake views.

She had a strong faith and was a member of First Lutheran Church since 1959, serving with the ladies’ aid.

Violet truly was a matriarch to her family and you knew that when you went to visit her, you would leave her home with a full belly and a happy heart. 

She was happy and proud to have 5 generations in her family. It was fun to sit down with her and listen to her stories of her younger days, her growing up, all the decades of changes she lived through in her 102 years of life. When asked her secret to her long life she answered “hard work, and strong coffee”. 

She will be deeply missed. 

Violet is survived by her children, Jerry (Rosemarie) Wolfe and Jimmy (Cheryl) Wolfe; grandchildren, Renee (Dave) Rindt, Rochelle (Bradley) Oseth, Timothy Wolfe, and Todd Wolfe; great grandchildren, Morgan (Dan) Stivaletta, Colin Smith, Christopher Smith, Dillan Wolfe, and Audika Walker; great-great grandson, Dawson Stivaletta; many other relatives and friends. 

She was preceded in death by her parents; husband, Lloyd; and siblings, Leslie Sheldon, Mina Ellefson, Ruth Nerison, and Laurel Sheldon.

The family would like to thank Clearview Nursing Home for the excellent care and support. And a special thank you to Pastor Jim, from First Lutheran Church for his visits, kind words and prayers.